Ascension challenge, Pentecostal means

In Jesus, God became a human being. That is what we celebrate at Christmas and what is emphasised by Jesus in this post-resurrection appearance (Luke 24. 36 - 53). God becomes Emmanuel, one with us, one of us.

As we read in Colossians 1. 19 Jesus had in himself, as a human being, the full nature of God. In other words, he showed God to us as fully as God can be seen in human form. This is because the creator must limit himself when he becomes part of his creation and so in Philippians 2. 7 we also read that Jesus gave up all he had when he took the nature of a servant by becoming a human being and appearing in human likeness. 

For God to become a human being involved limitation. A helpful analogy is that of an artist and his/her self-portrait. The self-portrait is the artist (in that it looks just like the artist, being an accurate representation of him or her) but it is much more limited than the artist (being paint on canvas rather than living flesh and bones). For the eternal, creator God to become a mortal part of his creation involved a similar level of limitation. Among the limitations as a human being that Jesus willingly accepted was being born in a particular time and place (1^st century Palestine) and living, ministering and dying only in that same time and place.

Jesus’ ascension was necessary then in order to overcome those limitations. Not so much by regaining his full divinity as by giving each of his followers his Spirit so that we can then be his hands and feet, his eyes, ears and mouth, his body in the world and throughout history. It is not possible for one person by himself to go to all peoples everywhere but it is possible for Christ’s disciples, his followers, to take his message and his Spirit from Jerusalem to all of Judea and Samaria and then to the ends of the earth.

The Gospel of Christ is able to go out into the whole world because we, the followers of Christ, are scattered throughout the world and can be his hands and feet, his eyes, ears and mouth, his body wherever we are. Suddenly, there are no limits on where the Body of Christ – his followers – can be. This is why, at his ascension, he says to his disciples, “you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth “(Acts 1. 8).

But this can only happen as we all play our own part in the Body of Christ. It can only happen as we act as the hands and feet, his eyes, ears and mouth, his body wherever we are. This is the challenge of the Ascension for us, but this challenge is combined with the promise that he will send his Spirit to us to empower and equip us to be his people, his Body, by doing what he would have done wherever we are. This is why he also says to his disciples, “when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1. 8). 

For this reason, the Ascension and Pentecost are intimately linked. The Ascension provides the challenge – “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples” (Matthew 28. 19) – and Pentecost provides the means - “when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

2011 has been a year in which we at St John’s have responded to that challenge by focussing on the identification and development of the God-given talents of our congregation. Following on from the Vocations Sunday event we held in 2010, we have run the Diocese’s SHAPE, Care & Share and Child Protection courses, heard from different members of our congregation through video interviews about ministry in daily life, and over the course of the year identified people who could form our new Ministry Leadership Team, as well as seeing Charity Anyika take on her role as a new churchwarden, an expanded team take on the running of our Youth Group, Dr Winston Solomon licensed as an Authorised Local Preacher and Peter Humphrey take on the role of More Than Gold Champion. These developments also came in the light of the deanery Deployment of Ministry discussions during 2010 and our preparations for the end of Geoff Eze’s curacy at St Johns.

As a congregation, we thought and prayed about five areas of ministry here at St John’s on which we wanted to focus through a Ministry Leadership Team and also about which members of our congregation could provide strategic direction for each of these areas. By the end of 2011 we had identified those people who would form our Ministry Leadership Team which began in 2012. This team of people have begun meeting with the staff team and churchwardens to form the Ministry Leadership Team. Please do pray regularly and consistently for all involved.

We also completed two significant projects: the work on our Community Garden and also the refurbishment of the Fellowship Room. The Archdeacon of West Ham opened our Community Garden as part of a Creating Community day featuring information stalls from local community groups and a plant and table top sale. The success of this event reflected the positive regard in which St John’s is held among the local community because of our focus on community engagement through the St John’s Centre and our involvement in local community campaigns. The refurbishment of our Fellowship Room at the end of 2011 will, we hope, lead to more community activities/groups in the St John’s Centre.

One of our long running initiatives for serving the community, our MU-run Contact Centre, celebrated its 20th anniversary in September 2011.  Contact centres are an increasingly essential resource in the area of family support. Without them, the rights of many children to sustain a relationship with a departed parent in a safe place would be either undermined or lost completely. Another of the community services that St John’s people have consistently supported over the years – Redbridge Voluntary Care – was recognised in 2011 with a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. Our consistent support of mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was also celebrated in 2011 when we heard Judy Acheson sum up all that God has done in that country through her work as a CMS Mission Partner.

We took part in the 'Give A Bible' Bible Year 2011 initiative in the Diocese of Chelmsford to encourage Church members in the diocese to bring a Bible to church on Bible Sunday (23 October) with the intention of subsequently giving it to a neighbour, work colleague or friend. Our 'Give a Bible' initiative placed Bibles back in homes and schools as we chose a range of different translations and versions of the Bible to give away to work colleagues, grandchildren, relatives and friends. These included a Polish translation for one work colleague. Several St John's members also bought a children's storyteller version of the Bible to give to Downshall Primary School for future use in their RE lessons and we also gave Bibles to Aldborough E-Act Free School.

We saw several of our own people take significant milestones in their faith including baptisms and confirmations. Others studied our START course as an introductory exploration of the Christian faith as part of their increased involvement here at St John’s.

During this year, we were preparing for Geoff Eze to move on from his curacy here at St John’s. Geoff’s time at St John’s ended when he began a placement at St Mary’s Walthamstow before his appointment as Team Vicar to the parish of Stoke Minister in 2012. As a parish we are very grateful for all that Geoff contributed during his curacy including the Tuesday afternoon fellowship group, pastoral visiting, schools ministry, youth work and, of course, the vibrancy and challenge of his preaching. We wish him well and pray for him in his new ministry. As part of our own preparation for his move, we expanded our youth work team (from the congregation, the cluster and the deanery) in order to keep the Youth Club running. We are very grateful for all who have given extra time and commitment in order to maintain this important ministry.

Our text for 2011 was: “I'm absolutely convinced that nothing — nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable — absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us” (Romans 8. 38-39 – The Message). In 2011, as this review of our year shows, we sought to live in the confidence that God’s ever-giving love brings into our lives and community.

2011 was in many ways a time of preparing for the future, while continuing to act as the hands and feet of God in our parish. The Ministry Leadership Team involves more of us in further developing our mission and ministry. The expansion of our Youth Work team gives a base for continuing our Youth Club. The refurbishment of the Fellowship Room will enable more groups to use our facilities providing more community services and addressing our financial issues. The arrival of a new curate will contribute to and support these developments and the growth in the numbers attending with young children.

There are many positive signs for the future as a result of all we have done together in the last five plus years. Our text for 2012 encourages us to run our race with determination by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. So, “let us run with the determination the race that lies before us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.”

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Philip Bailey - All Soldiers.